Bone loss in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: A prospective study

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
To assess the rate of bone loss in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, we prospectively studied 35 patients (17 women) aged 36±13 (range 17–60) years, 14 of whom had Crohn's disease and 21 with ulcerative colitis (including 12 with ileoanal anastomosis). Bone mineral density was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at the lumbar spine and femoral neck. The follow-up was 19±8 months. During this period, 14 patients received oral steroids. Lumbar bone density changes expressed as a percentage per year were −3.1±4.9%, −6.4±7.5% and +2.0±4.0% in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis without and with ileoanal anastomosis respectively (p=0.007). The same pattern was observed at the femoral neck. Mean annual lumbar bone density changes were −6.2±7.0% and +0.9±3.9% in patients with and without steroids during follow-up (p=0.002). We conclude that patients with inflammatory bowel disease are at risk of lumbar and femoral bone loss. However, bone loss is not observed in patients with ileoanal anastomosis.